Windward Capital Management Co. CA Sells 3,459 Shares of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)

Key Points

• Windward Capital Management Co. CA reduced its stake in Salesforce by 1.8%, selling 3,459 shares to hold a total of 191,977 shares, representing approximately 4.4% of its investment portfolio.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Brighton Jones LLC and Freedom Investment Management Inc., have increased their investments in Salesforce during the 4th quarter, highlighting continued institutional interest in the stock.
• Salesforce's shares opened at $242.78, with a market cap of $232.10 billion, and the company reported earnings of $2.58 per share with revenue of $9.83 billion for the most recent quarter, surpassing analyst expectations.

Windward Capital Management Co. CA reduced its position in Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 191,977 shares of the CRM provider's stock after selling 3,459 shares during the quarter. Salesforce comprises about 4.4% of Windward Capital Management Co. CA's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Windward Capital Management Co. CA's holdings in Salesforce were worth $51,519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,668 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $8,582,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 4th quarter worth $361,000. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,592 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Salesforce by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 925,791 shares of the CRM provider's stock worth $309,520,000 after purchasing an additional 156,936 shares during the period. 80.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CRM shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Salesforce from $425.00 to $347.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $311.00 to $309.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Northland Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Salesforce from $423.00 to $396.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $347.50.

Salesforce Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of CRM stock opened at $242.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $232.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.99, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.37. Salesforce Inc. has a 1-year low of $226.48 and a 1-year high of $369.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $260.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.30.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The CRM provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.74 billion. Salesforce had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Salesforce Inc. will post 7.46 EPS for the current year.

Salesforce Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.416 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. Salesforce's payout ratio is 25.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Salesforce news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 2,250 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.30, for a total transaction of $585,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,955,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,112,033,829.80. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 46,532 shares of company stock worth $12,082,694 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.

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